Expert

What the Expert Says:

The longstanding viewpoint about uniforms is that it enables everyone to operate on the same level – ie. it doesn’t emphasize the difference between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. We all know, however, that there are so many other ways to flaunt what you have and what someone else doesn’t. Regardless, uniforms do allow kids to spend their time worrying about more than just what they’re going to wear each day and in that respect they can help some of the focus be on academic achievement. Uniforms help ensure a certain dress code versus the school having to decide what is and isn’t appropriate for school. It helps enforce a certain degree of decorum.

There is always the argument that uniforms don’t allow students to express their individuality, but we all know that kids are going to go home and change into what they want to wear when they get home – when they go out in the evenings, meet with friends, go out on the weekends – that’s the time when they can express their individuality, not in school where the focus should be academics, as opposed to everyone is wearing.

There is also the opinion that uniforms help schools identify those students who don’t belong in the school. With the increased violence and security measures that some schools are having to implement, the idea is that it’s easy to spot the ‘intruder’. That being said, many times the issues lie within the students who attend the school and not necessarily a student from elsewhere.

Uniforms will always be met with mixed reviews. However, if you’re trying to decide which school to attend, try not to make the decision based on something like uniforms. There are so many other things you need to examine and uniforms should be at the bottom of the list.

Whatever the case, uniforms make back to school shopping a dream for parents (and willing students) because they can budget how much they’ll be spending each September for the new attire and there are no arguments in the mall about what to buy!

Additional Answers (1)

From personal experience, I enjoyed wearing a uniform. It enabled me to focus on going to school rather than fussing with my outfit. During High School, it was a time and money saver, I didn't have to worry about being on top of the trends during the school week and I was never late due to wardrobe changes.